The existence of bonefish in Australia was probably first recognised when surf anglers fishing along the Queensland coast caught “oversized sand whiting” exceeding 2kg in weight. While superficially similar to sand whiting, bonefish are easy to tell apart in a variety of ways including only having one dorsal fin, a more robust body and a more underslung mouth. IGFA reports that the two largest bonefish ever caught by anglers were a 17 pounder caught in 1976 and a 19 pounder caught in 1962 caught by baitfishermen from a beach in Zululand (present-day KwaZulu-Natal province), South Africa.

Until relatively recently, scientists thought there were only two species of bonefish, Albula vulpes, the traditional “grey ghost of the Caribbean flats” which was thought to occur worldwide in tropical waters, and the morphologically distinct threadfin bonefish, A. nemoptera, which occurs only in the Atlantic Ocean. However, recent studies have confirmed that A. vulpes is probably confined to the Atlantic Ocean as well, and that the bonefish occurring in the Indian and Pacific Oceans comprise at least 8 other species. I am not an ichthyologist, not even a fifth cousin to one, so if you wish to know more you will have to do your own research.

Bonefish are more common in our waters than many people would realise. Bait fishermen have caught bones in various locations around Australia.

The Ningaloo coast at Exmouth in Western Australia has been one of the only places in Australia where consistent numbers of bones can be targeted with the fly. There are very few skinny water flats in Australia where one can wade and cast at tailing bones so most of the fishing for bones in WA is from a boat as the fish are found in slightly deeper water.

The colour of bonefish can range from very silver sides and slight darker backs to olive green backs that blend to the silver side. Slight shading on the scales often lead to very soft subtle lines that run the flank of the fish from the gills to the tail. The sleek body and bottom have bright silvery scales that reflect the ocean bottom like a mirror. This natural camouflage allows the fish to remain largely undetected by anglers and their natural predators. The tail has a uniquely deep fork.

Bonefish are bottom foragers which use their underslung mouth to capture prey concealed within sandy substrates. Juvenile bonefish feed mainly on microscopic crustaceans called amphipods (“sand fleas”), which are a plentiful food source in sand and seagrass areas. Larger bonefish eat a wide range of food items, mainly crustaceans such as small crabs and callianassids (yabbies or nippers), but also prawns, polychaetes, small bivalves and occasionally small fish.
Bonefish move onto sand flats with the rising tide to feed, often into waters less than 10 cm deep, and return to deeper channels as the tide recedes.

Recommended tackle for bonefish is 6 9 wt outfits, reels holding at least 150m of backing with smooth and reliable drags. Leaders should be slightly longer than usual to get the fly down, tapered down to 12 15lb tippet.

Favoured flies are Crazy Charlies, Gotchas, Clousers, Small Crab Patterns and, according to expert bonefisherman Dick Brown, Woolly Buggers!

Depending on where you fish and the depth of water being fished, fly sink rate is important. Deeper water requires slightly heavier flies and longer leaders than the traditional skinny water approach.

Sink the fly to the bottom and then retrieve in short strips and pauses. Small puffs of sand as the fly touches down on the bottom help to attract the attention of Bones.

A Short history of Bonefishing

In 1924 Holmes Allen became the first recorded man to take a bonefish on fly. He was fishing for snook and considered the bonefish to be a nuisance.

During the 1930s more bonefish were caught on fly but all were an accidental catch whilst fishing for other species.
Things changed when a Florida Guide called Bill Smith who had been catching bonefish on bait for some time attempted to catch them deliberately on a fly but still added a “tail” of pork rind. He was weighing the fish when a famous freshwater fly fisherman, George LaBranche, was present and pointedly asked him why he hadn’t tied on the rest of the hog.

Angered, Smith then tied several flies using only white chicken feathers and in 1939 hooked and boated an 8lb fish, the world’s first legitimate and intentional bonefish on fly.

The Second World War then took precedence over bonefishing and it wasn’t until June 1947 that a sports writer named Joe Brooks, fishing near Peterson Key, Florida intentionally caught two bonefish on fly. Brooks continued to fish for and write about catching bonefish on fly. His writings influenced all the great flyfishing pioneers and guides. Bonefish have since become the Holy Grail of flyfishing and new locations are constantly being found and made accessible to fly fishermen.